The Special Hug
by EsmeAmelia
Summary: Han is saddled with giving Ben "the talk."


AN: I don't own Star Wars. This was written in response to a prompt by my friend MasterOf4Elements, who wanted to see Han give Ben "the talk." Warning: Certain body parts and bodily functions are frankly discussed in this fic.

"The Special Hug"

By EsmeAmelia

"Daddy?" Ben asked. The six-year-old had just taken a bath with his mother, but she was still washing her hair, so Han was drying the boy off in his lap.

"What is it, son?" Han asked, rubbing the towel against his son's scalp, inhaling his fruit-scented shampoo.

"How come Mommy doesn't have a penis?"

Han's hands froze in mid-drying. "What?"

"How come Mommy doesn't have a penis like we do?" Ben repeated, oblivious to the awkwardness of his question. Han licked his lips, figuring that he should be honest with the kid, but _damn_, did he _have _to ask this question when Leia wasn't around?

"Well, Mommy's a girl," he said, "and we're boys. Boys have penises and girls have vaginas."

"But why?"

"Cause . . . it's just how the world works."

Ben twisted his head, letting Han see his wide, curious eyes. "Are my breasts gonna get big like Mommy's when I grow up?"

"No, son." Han concentrated on running the towel down the child's head. "Boy breasts don't get big like girl breasts do." Well _that _was something he never thought he'd say out loud, but then again, he'd said a lot of weird things out loud since becoming a father.

"Why?"

"Cause only mommies make milk for their babies. That's why their breasts get big, so they can make milk." And because big breasts were damn sexy, but of course Han wouldn't say _that _part out loud.

"Oh," said Ben, turning back around. Han thought he could finish drying Ben off without any more awkward questions, but of course he was proven wrong when Ben asked . . .

"Daddy, how do mommies make babies?"

Great. _That _question. Couldn't Ben have waited a few more years to get so curious? Or at least waited until Leia was here to help out? He cleared his throat, though it remained dry. "Well, remember the holos of Mommy when she was pregnant with you? Mommies get pregnant and the baby grows inside her, then when the baby's big enough, the baby comes out."

"Yeah, I know _that_ part," said Ben, "but how does the baby get _in_ the mommy?"

Han inhaled through his teeth, trying unsuccessfully to ignore how his stomach was jumping. "Well, the mommy and daddy work together to start a baby growing in her body."

Ben was twisting his head again, showing Han how those big brown eyes were thirsting for knowledge. "But _how?"_

Han wished he could somehow go back in time and stop his son from asking the penis question. How the hell was he supposed to answer? The old cliché of "when a mommy and daddy love each other very much . . ."? Did anyone _actually _use that line when explaining this stuff to their kids? "Well . . . see . . . mommies have little tiny eggs in their stomachs."

"Like bird eggs?"

"No, no, these eggs are much tinier than bird eggs." Eggs, that was the easy part. Kids understood eggs.

"So I hatched from an _egg_?" Ben's lips pursed. "Am I part-bird?"

Han had to restrain himself from laughing. "No, son, no, you ain't a bird and you weren't _hatched_." Han spread the towel over Ben's head, making him look like he was wearing a veil, and turned him around to face his father. "More like you _grew_ from an egg inside Mommy's belly."

"Oh, okay," said Ben, "but you said mommies and daddies work _together_ to make babies. What did you do?"

Damn, Han should have known Ben was too smart to just let it rest at eggs. When would Leia be out of the bath? "Okay . . . uh . . . when a mommy and daddy love each other very much . . ." Oh shit, was he really doing _that_ line? ". . . you know what, when couples want to have a baby, they do something . . . _special_ to make a baby." Was he sweating or was that just water from Ben's bath?

"What do they do?" asked Ben. "Is it like a game?"

If Han were being honest, he'd say _yes_, it _was_ like a game – one of the most fun games in the universe, but of course he wasn't going to tell Ben everything yet. "No, not a game. It's kind of a . . . special hug." Special hug? Really? Couldn't he have come up with something a little less lame? Apparently not. "The mommy and daddy take off their clothes and hug and . . ." He took a few deep breaths through his teeth, trying to concentrate on his son's wide eyes. It didn't harm him to know about this, right? It was just a fact of life, nothing to be ashamed about.

"Well?" Ben asked, sounding like he was about to burst with anticipation. "What do they do when they hug naked? Tell me! Tell me!"

Han took a deep breath, not that it did any good to calm the jumping in his stomach. "Well, you know how boys have penises and girls have vaginas?"

"Yeah?"

"During the special hug, the daddy puts his penis _inside _the mommy's vagina."

For once Ben was silent. His eyes bulged and he glanced downward as if looking at Han's penis through his pants and realizing for the first time that it had been in Leia's vagina. Suddenly Han felt dirty, though he wasn't sure why.

"What's that gotta do with making babies?" Ben finally asked, still periodically glancing downward.

"Well, when the daddy puts his penis in the mommy's vagina, little tadpole-things called sperm swim outta his penis and up into the mommy's womb – that's the part of the mommy's belly where babies grow. One of the sperm breaks into one of the mommy's eggs and that makes the egg start growin' into a baby."

Ben's mouth was twisting. "Wow," was all he said, but Han couldn't tell if it was an amazed wow or a disgusted wow or a little of both.

Han waited until he was sure that Ben wouldn't ask any more nerve-wrecking questions, then he returned to drying his son off, feeling rather proud of himself. He'd done it. He'd given Ben the "talk" without any help from Leia. Wouldn't she be amazed?

. . .

Later that evening, the three were lounging on the sofa and watching the holovid, though Ben seemed more interested in playing with his two toy banthas than the holofilm. He was pushing them together and making them dance – or so Han thought until Ben said . . .

"Look Daddy, they're doing the special hug!"

Han's stomach numbed as he looked at the two banthas that Ben was pressing together at approximately the spot where their private parts would be. "See?" Ben continued. "They're doing the special hug and making a baby!"

Leia cocked her head at Han, raising an eyebrow. "Special hug?"

Han felt his face heating up. "Uh . . . that's a long story."

"Daddy told me about how people do the special hug to make babies!" Ben exclaimed, giving a toothy grin. "Are you and Daddy gonna do the special hug tonight to make me a brother or sister?"

At first Leia looked taken aback, her eyes bulging first at Ben then at Han, but after a moment a grin started creeping across her face. "Maybe, sweetheart," she said. "Me giving Daddy the special hug depends on him explaining what all went on tonight."

Han gave his wife a sheepish grin. "Guess that's fair."

Ben was giggling now. "Can I watch you do the special hug?"

"NO!" Han and Leia exclaimed in unison.

"Why not?"

"Er . . ." said Leia, "you just can't, okay?"

"Why?"

Han's grin grew wider as he gave Leia a knowing look. "Hey sweetheart, I gave our little question bug the answers earlier, so this one's yours."

THE END


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